Monday, May 26, 2014

Un-convention, Project Life start-dates and new Photopolymer

It's been a couple of weeks between posts, but I have some exciting news - Project Life by Stampin' Up! will be available for Customer orders on June 10th! That's 3 whole weeks before the new Catalogue begins! As a demonstrator I am able to do an early pre-order, so I will have some samples to share with you the minute that brown box lands on my doorstep - I'm really excited about this one!!!

We also have the Photopolymer Show & Tell stampsets available in May, with a free online class when you order both Show & Tell 1 and Show & Tell 2.

There will be more Photopolymer sets coming in the upcoming 2014-15 Annual Catalogue; Stampin' Up! searched long and hard for just the right material to be able to introduce completely clear stamping, and are excited to offer wood-mount, clear-mount AND photopolymer stamps from now on. Our top-quality photopolymer stamps stick extremely well on our acrylic blocks, are durable, and the transparent nature of these sets makes it easier to line up your images without the need of a guide, a feature that is particularly helpful with alphabets, borders, and backgrounds! Photopolymer is clearly a great choice.

There are some Photopolymer sets included in the Project Life by Stampin' Up! range, so I will also be pre-ordering those and look forward to sharing with you soon.

In the meantime, the Stampin' Up! South Pacific Convention was held in Melbourne over the weekend, and since I was unable to attend, I took part in an online Demonstrator-run 4 day extravaganza of challenges and games in our annual "Un-Convention". We had a mixture of Scavenger Hunts (using our Catalogues to find answers to quiz questions), Sketches, Technique Challenges and Product Challenges, including MDS. We were encouraged to clear our Craft Desks, stock up on chocolate and wine, and craft craft craft. This was a great chance to get inspiration from each other and try out some new techniques, as well as dig out some neglected products that hadn't seen daylight for a wee while.

Here are some of my challenge submissions:

"Faux Project-Life" layout on a 12x12 piece of cardstock:

Sketch Challenge:

These two together create a double-page spread:

Card Candy, I used Zoo Babies and made a girl and boy version:

Product Challenge: use your Big Shot to create something with any material other than DSP/cardstock - I cut up one of the cardboard box our SU orders arrive in to make this banner:

This one is a combination of two challenges, a Monochromatic Colour challenge (this one is Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral and Tangerine Tango), as well as a Card challenge using 3 different punches.

Another Colour Challenge - red, white and blue (plus any other colour). I went with Rev Up The Fun and after making the first card, I decided it would be cool as a Spinner Card. My kids LOVE the moving parts and have asked for a princess version - I'll get right onto it!

Another submission in the Monochromatic Colour Challenge (Daffodil Delight, Summer Starfruit and Crushed Curry), this time combined with a Technique Challenge, using a blown-ink technique (spritzed water onto a (retired) sheet of Glossy White paper, with a few drops of re-inker/s on top and blown around with a straw). This is quite outside of my usual style, and was inspired by some of Justin Kreiger's collage-style cards of late.

MDS Challenge (this is a double-layout as well):

The 3-punch and Project Life challenges were ones I hosted, as well as a Technique Challenge using your spritzer, acrylic block and Stampin' Write Markers to make a faux-watercolour background. My samples for that were from this earlier post.

It was so fun being part of Unconvention, but I'd secretly (not-so-secretly!) quite like to be at the actual Convention next year on the Gold Coast!

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About Me

I am a 30-something stay-at-home mum to three girls, based in Auckland, NZ. I have been an Independent Stampin' Up!® Demonstrator since February 2012.
Tiny Kiwi was my 'trading name' at Craft Markets where I used to sell my homemade giftcards and cute NZ Made baby onesies. I am no longer running this venture now that my kids are older and I have returned to work.